Buying a used e92 m3, what to look for??

[Jadar]

Well I have been looking for some time now, test drove 2 2008's, but they just weren't the ones. Main reason color and they were sedans.

I want a used e92 m3, black or white.

You guys have the experience here, what else should I look for when buying used?

Is it better to buy from private party or dealer?

I know these cars are very reliable and have little trouble, but I just wanna know more of what I should be watching out for.

Thanks for any help guys.

EDIT: oh and how much do you guys say the 08-09's go for now in the winter. I saw a few that were 39,000-40,000 range at the dealer, do you guys think that is good or can the price be slashed a little?

[ES_TRADER]

rattles

[Jadar]

Originally Posted by richpuer

rattles

If thats all I have to worry about, I have plenty of squeak n rattle tape, I work for an auto manufacturer .

The one I was looking at has 46k miles, Im not too worred about the milage but is there something mechanically I should be lookin out for? Thanks

[James T. Kirk]

Originally Posted by richpuer

rattles

Though a good dealership can have that addressed with some felt inserts.
.

[James T. Kirk]

1) I prefer dealerships to find CPO coverage.

2) Dealerships will also not sell you a model with mods.
A lot of private party owners will have mods they may or may not disclose.

3) Stay away from 2008 models with the old i-Drive.

4) Black is beautiful, but tough to keep clean.

5) White is tight, but a bit played out amongst M3s on the road.
.

[porshah]

Originally Posted by James T. Kirk

1) I prefer dealerships to find CPO coverage.

2) Dealerships will also not sell you a model with mods.
A lot of private party owners will have mods they may or may not disclose.

3) Stay away from 2008 models with the old i-Drive.
.

Just curios about item 3. Is there a big problem with it or just hard to use? Or something else?

[porshah]

Originally Posted by James T. Kirk

1) I prefer dealerships to find CPO coverage.

2) Dealerships will also not sell you a model with mods.
A lot of private party owners will have mods they may or may not disclose.

3) Stay away from 2008 models with the old i-Drive.
.

Just curios about item 3. Is there a big problem with it or just hard to use? Or something else?

[porshah]

Originally Posted by James T. Kirk

1) I prefer dealerships to find CPO coverage.

2) Dealerships will also not sell you a model with mods.
A lot of private party owners will have mods they may or may not disclose.

3) Stay away from 2008 models with the old i-Drive.
.

Just curios about item 3. Is there a big problem with it or just hard to use? Or something else?

[sonnyb]

Originally Posted by porshah

Just curios about item 3. Is there a big problem with it or just hard to use? Or something else?

I have a 2008 and the drive is fine, don't see why it should be avoided at all.

[1sikbmr]

Originally Posted by sonnyb

I have a 2008 and the drive is fine, don't see why it should be avoided at all.

+1 it is perfectly fine for what I use it for. Navi once in a while and using my ipod. It has a little lag sometimes but that is it shouldn't be ruled out in my books.

[viperssd]

2008 idrive is an older, slower and less capable system. It's hard to explain unless you use it, one of those things that make it hard to go back after you've tried it. If you're targeting one without idrive, then ignore that advice.

[Jadar]

Originally Posted by James T. Kirk

1) I prefer dealerships to find CPO coverage.

2) Dealerships will also not sell you a model with mods.
A lot of private party owners will have mods they may or may not disclose.

3) Stay away from 2008 models with the old i-Drive.

4) Black is beautiful, but tough to keep clean.

5) White is tight, but a bit played out amongst M3s on the road.
.

Yes black is a pain to keep clean. I have a black 328 and i constantly have to wash it. But I love it when it's clean! So was there a problem with the 2008 I drive system?

[smokinjoe64]

Originally Posted by porshah

Just curios about item 3. Is there a big problem with it or just hard to use? Or something else?

Originally Posted by James T. Kirk

1) I prefer dealerships to find CPO coverage.

2) Dealerships will also not sell you a model with mods.
A lot of private party owners will have mods they may or may not disclose.

3) Stay away from 2008 models with the old i-Drive.

4) Black is beautiful, but tough to keep clean.

5) White is tight, but a bit played out amongst M3s on the road.
.

Originally Posted by sonnyb

I have a 2008 and the drive is fine, don't see why it should be avoided at all.

+1, I concur with sonnyb...actually my `08 is rattle free and i-drive works flawlessly (54,000mls).
Yeah, also take some posters 'opinions' with a grain of salt. There are no issues...

[sonnyb]

so can you guys with the later idrive get new maps every year for just $40 and do they show speedcams...? Mine can, plus i have the new style controller...best of both worlds..that's also my fave STNG episode!

[Michaeljh2000]

2008 are fine. The iDrive was updated for 2009.

Private or dealer does not matter, except you should expect to pay a little more at the dealer. Either way, you can purchase an aftermarket warranty your worried if/when your car goes out of warranty. Your going to pay more for a CPO car, which is essentially a warranty.

Rattles are common with the E92 M3. My instrument pod or cluster rattled when it was cold outside. I removed it myself and used 3m electrical tape to seal it up where the plastic cluster snapped together. No issues with rattling since.

M3's have been holding their value decently, but you should be able to slash a little off the asking price.

[Nine]

Lower the price, higher the risk. I would avoid buying at the bottom end of the market, especially on higher end cars. When dealers are offering low prices, I would be very concerned.

[askharjoon]

Buy mine, its for sale. And I agree with the above posts, only problem is rattles behind the dash when its cold, otherwise its been the most reliable M I've ever owned.

[Jadar]

Originally Posted by Nine

Lower the price, higher the risk. I would avoid buying at the bottom end of the market, especially on higher end cars. When dealers are offering low prices, I would be very concerned.

So what do you think a reasonable price is on say a 2008 with 40,000 miles?

I asked my buddy who is a sales manager for my local Bmw he said 38 to 39k is very fair for what im looking for. Hes also trying to help me find what im looking for.

We found one at a dealer thats 200miles away but they refuse to wholsale the car to my dealer, theyre being very arrogant about it so i said screw it.

This is turning into a pain!!

[K-M3]

Originally Posted by James T. Kirk

1) I prefer dealerships to find CPO coverage.

2) Dealerships will also not sell you a model with mods.
A lot of private party owners will have mods they may or may not disclose.

3) Stay away from 2008 models with the old i-Drive.

4) Black is beautiful, but tough to keep clean.

5) White is tight, but a bit played out amongst M3s on the road.
.

+1 and

- CPO - already mentioned. Plus I would ask the dealership if they were willing to CPO the car. I dont know the exact details of what is involved in this operation, maybe someone here can chime in, but even if it is at a reasonable additional cost, I would get it CPO'd

- if above can be done, see if you can get additional years of warranty/maintenance coverage..I would check on this option- CPO or no CPO. Agreed that M3's generally tend to be reliable, but they can get pretty expensive pretty fast for repairs. Especially with a 40K+ mileage car, the addditional warranty/maintenance might just save you a lot of hurt on unscheduled out of pocket expenses

- the above two would be first on my list.... I will add as I think of more stuff

[Endless619]

Originally Posted by dd1981

So what do you think a reasonable price is on say a 2008 with 40,000 miles?

I asked my buddy who is a sales manager for my local Bmw he said 38 to 39k is very fair for what im looking for. Hes also trying to help me find what im looking for.

We found one at a dealer thats 200miles away but they refuse to wholsale the car to my dealer, theyre being very arrogant about it so i said screw it.

This is turning into a pain!!

Thats too low for a used CPO 2008 or 2009 at any BMW dealers here in the PNW. Expect to spend $44000-$50000 for a used CPO 2008-2010 M3 with under 50000 miles.

There have been $38k-$39k 2008 M3s at private dealers with no warranty and no CPO and have over 59000 miles. Most of the under $45000 2008-2009 M3s also do not have navigation. Not that it matters but just FYI here. Buy at your own risk.

[808@702]

I got my CPO 2008 E 92 with 12500 miles for 49,000.00. The only rattle I currently have is the seat belt extender which I plan to fix with felt tape.

[Michaeljh2000]

Originally Posted by dd1981

So what do you think a reasonable price is on say a 2008 with 40,000 miles?

This is turning into a pain!!

As your discovering, it's not that simple. A lot will depend on availability and market price for your area. Also, various options, in addition to mileage can significantly affect price. Check out what 2008 M3's are going for on Autotrader and Cars.com in your city. There's a reason why the dealership, that's 200 miles away isn't selling wholesale. They don't have to. It's in their best interest to sell it locally for more money. You may have to drive for hours to find what you want or have the car shipped. Either way, you need to do some more research.